"Out Of The Jewelry Box"

Diamonds may be a girls best friend, but sugar jewelry might just come in a close second.  This amazing blog post from our DTCPUG member Nancy Mitchko is a must read.  What amazing techniques and instructions - Not to mention the BEAUTIFUL finished products!  Thank you Nancy for sharing your beautiful work!  Can't wait to see what is next from you!

My name is Nancy Mitchko and I am a first time poster. As an instructor and a life-long cake decorating junkie, I cannot tell you how much fun I had working on new techniques for these beautiful molds.

Jewelry can brighten any girl’s day…same goes for their cakes. My first tutorial will discuss some techniques for simple, elegant brooches are easy to create and are stunning accents when finished.

Filigreed Brooch

Supplies

Fondant, gum paste, 50/50 blend (mine are fondant)

· Cream

· Dark Chocolate or dark brown

Luster Dust

· Gold

· Silver

Shortening

Vodka, lemon extract or Ever Clear (whatever you prefer)

Brushes

· Soft bristle – dry

· Fine detail

Plastic scraper or Metal off-set spatula

Dusting puff with confectionery sugar

Ivory Inspired Brooch:

Knead a small amount of cream colored paste until it is soft and pliable. Roll into a ball and coat with a thin film of shortening. Place in the center of the mold. Using your thumb, firmly press the paste into the mold and stretch the paste out to the edges. Be sure to press hard enough to get all the wonderful detail from this mold.

Use a plastic scraper or metal spatula to trim off the excess paste. After trimming, go back and clean the edges by gently pulling you thumb from edge toward the center. Smooth the back by gently rubbing with your thumb in a circular motion. Invert on a flat dusted surface and press down.

Place in refrigerator for 5-10 minutes until firm.

Release brooch from mold by first carefully flexing the edge of the mold to release the edges. Invert and pull back until the piece it removed.

Let dry 12-25 hours.

This mold is lovely as is, but if you would like to embellish, use a bit of vodka and the gold luster dust to create a paint-able medium. Paint the edge of the brooch with the detail brush to create a setting for your filigreed piece. Let dry. Gently pass the piece through kettle steam to set the colors and give a very natural sheen to your piece.

Antique Silver Brooch:

This brooch is created in a similar fashion as the ivory by using the dark chocolate paste to cast the piece.

To prepare the mold, using the soft bristle brush, generously dust the mold with silver luster dust. The fine details will make it difficult to get into those spaces when the piece is dry. By dusting before it is cast, the silver will get into all the nooks and crannies and also serve as a releasing agent.

There is no need to put apply shortening since the mold is dusted. Just fill and shape the piece as above with pressing into the mold, trimming and cleaning. Place into the refrigerator until firm to the touch.

Turn out and let dry.

Dry dust your brooch with the soft bristle brush to add a little extra glitz to the upper edges. Steam and let dry.

(Hint: Sugar pastes not your favorite medium, use tempered chocolate and just pour. Let set in the refrigerator until set (5-10 minutes) and just dry dust to add color and metallic affects.)

Cabochon Brooches

Cabochon brooches are distinctive by their round topped central gemstone. Whether the setting is simple or ornate, the central stone is the focal point in these pins. To that end I have combined techniques to create the contrast between stone and setting.

Sugar work is all the rage, but for the novice decorator or a small piece, isomalt and sugar work can be intimidating. This tutorial will help make the process easier and less daunting.

As the daughter of a diabetic, I spend lots of time adapting recipes to so Dad is not left out. I have become accustomed to reading ingredient labels. I was picking up some hard sugar free candy and what to my sugary surprise…they are made with isomalt. I brought them home and the experimentation began!

Supplies

Sugar free hard candy (eg: Life Savers, Crystal Light)

Microwave oven

Fondant, 50/50 Blend, Gum paste, candy clay or chocolate (mine are fondant)

· Cream Colored

· Dark Chocolate

Rolling pin

Plastic scraper or Metal offset spatula

Brushes

· Soft bristle

· Fine Detail

Luster Dust

· Gold

· Silver

Disco Dust

Vodka, Ever Clear or lemon extract (whatever you prefer)

Tappit Alphabet cutter (or whatever motif you have that fits)

Dragees

THE GEM

Select color for the gem you wish to make. Crush candy and place in the gem cavity of the mold. Fill to the top to slightly above depending on the size of your pieces. Smaller ones melt easier, but are more difficult to move. Use a clean, soft brush to remove any stray “candy dust” that might be outside the gem cavity.

Place mold in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove and tap on tab top to get the sugar level and have any air bubble migrate to the top. Let set until hard and cool (about 5 minutes).

You have just molded sugar! The next parts will give you some ideas as to how to set your stone.

Embellishment (once cool and hard)

· Dust with silver luster dust OR

· Sprinkle with Disco dust

Simple Setting

Plain Stone

Knead paste until soft and pliable. Roll into a ball and place in center of the mold. Using a rolling pin, roll out paste to fill the mold.

Trim the excess with a spatula or scraper. Clean edges by stroking with your fingers from the edge toward the center. Smooth back with your fingers, invert mold and press on a flat surface.

Place mold in refrigerator 5- 10 minutes or until firm.

Embellished Stone

Cut out initial or motif with that fits inside the gem. Gild initial with luster dust/alcohol paint. Let dry. When dry, place upside down on gem in mold and gently press to be sure it makes good contact and lies flat. Sprinkle with Disco dust.

Knead paste until soft and pliable. Roll into a ball and place in the center of the mold. Press the paste firmly, stretching the paste from the center toward the edges to fill the mold.

Continue as above.

Embellished Setting

Once gem is set and ready, place dragees in the round spaces.

Fill mold as in ‘Embellished Stone’ so that the dragees stay in their wells.

Finishing

When firm, release the edges and turn out the piece. Let set for around 3 or more hours. Dry dust the setting or for more coverage, paint with metallic luster dust. Steam and let dry.

Hints: If you are looking for an antique look, use dark chocolate color.

If you want the antique look, but lighter stone, cut a small oval of a light background color and place it over the gem before finally filling the mold.

Don’t have dragees, and you are filling with light paste, fill the mold and then dust or paint the little pearls when you are done. If you are using dark paste, then first fill the wells with light paste and chill. Fill the balance and chill again before removing. Dust with Pearl or paint as desired.

Don’t like sugar pastes; fill with melted, tempered chocolate and dry dust the colors.

Cameos

Cameos are reliefs carved from agate, glass or shells on a contrasting background. Long associated as a symbol of gentility in the Victorian age, cameos in fact date back to early Romans.

Supplies

Fondant, gum paste, 50/50 blend (mine are fondant)

· Cream

· Light Jade Green

· Gold

· Dark Chocolate or dark brown

Luster Dust

· Gold

· Silver

· Blue

Shortening

Vodka, lemon extract or Ever Clear (whatever you prefer)

Soft bristle brush – dry

Fine detail brush

Plastic scraper or Metal off-set spatula

Dusting puff with confectionery sugar

Rolling Pin

Angel Cameo

Knead cream color paste until soft and pliable. Form a ball and coat with a thin layer of shortening. With a pin, roll from the center, out to the edges to fill the mold.

Trim the excess with a spatula or scraper. Clean edges by stroking with your fingers from the edge toward the center. Smooth back with your fingers, invert mold and press on a flat surface. Place mold in refrigerator 5- 10 minutes or until firm.

When firm, release the edges and turn out the piece. Let dry for 3 or more hours.

Dry dust with gold luster dust on high relief. Dust with blue on the angel’s dress.

Using the gold/alcohol paint the delicate swirl setting around edge.

Steam and let dry.

Portrait Cameo

Knead cream colored paste until soft and pliable. Roll a small piece into a ball and place in the face of the cameo. Press to fill just the portrait space in the cameo. Remove excess so that the edges of the face are sharp and the center is slightly under filled. Under filling the mold helps to avoid overflow when pressing the next layer in and keeps the edges crisp. Chill in the refrigerator until firm.

While face is setting, soften and marble a piece of jade and cream fondant. These colors, when marbled will give the effect of the stone veining and add realism to the piece.

When firm, fill the mold by rolling the marbled paste into a ball and placing paste into the center of the mold. Using a rolling pin, roll the paste out to fill the mold. Trim and clean edges.

Return to the refrigerator until firm.

Release the edges and turn out the cameo. Steam and let dry.

Portrait Cameo in Frame Setting

Fill portrait as above. Chill until set.

Marble the golden and cream paste and roll into a ball. Press the ball into the mold with fingers up to the first ridge. Again, trim extra, clean edges, and under fill the center of this layer. Chill until firm.

Soften and fill the mold with dark chocolate to finish the brooch. Trim excess. Clean edges and chill.

Release edges and turn out the finished cameo. Let set for around 3 or more hours. Dry dust the frame of the cameo with silver for an antique look.

Steam and let dry.

As a testament for the quality of these molds, I had left my pieces on the table so I could photograph and husband wanted to know where I bought the new jewelry!

I hope you have as much fun with these superior molds as I have. The combinations are limited only by your imagination. Inspiration is only a jewelry box away!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me through the DTC Blog website or at nemitchko.DreamSweets@gmail.com.